by Alan Sculley
here's a temptation
to say Big Head Todd & the Monsters lost some momentum with the 1994
CD, Strategem. Up until that point, their career had moved on a sharp
upward trajectory. Two self-released CDs, Another Mayberry (1989)
and Midnight Radio (1990), had sold some 70,000 copies before the
band even had a record deal. And when the band followed those CDs with their
major-label debut, Sister Sweetly, they saw that disc go platinum.
Big Head Todd seemed to have arrived in the big time.
The
followup CD, Strategem, however, sold only about half as many copies
as Sister Sweetly. But if you're expecting to hear regrets from the
Big Head Todd camp, don't talk to drummer Brian Nevin or his bandmates.
They didn't share the big expectations for the record anyway.
"We've never been disappointed, even with the Strategem record not selling as well as Sister Sweetly," says Nevin. "We knew that was a little darker record, and we had no disappointment in how that did."
If anything, Nevin and his bandmates -- singer/guitarist/songwriter Todd Park Mohr and bassist Rob Squires -- consider Strategem to have been an important step in broadening their overall experience -- and preparing the group for their current CD, Beautiful World.
Where the trio had used producer David Z on Sister Sweetly, the Strategem disc was entirely the work of Big Head Todd & the Monsters. The band self-produced the record and made every important decision relating to the project, from song selection to the choice of the Boulder Theatre in their hometown of Boulder, Colorado, as the recording site.
Interestingly
enough, Beautiful World finds the band setting aside their production
ambitions. The band may have done a credible job in producing themselves
on Strategem, but this time they welcomed the notion of leaving the
production duties to a hired gun -- in this case former Talking Heads guitarist
Jerry Harrison.
"When we did the Strategem record, I think we didn't realize the pressures that would be on us to kind of write, record, produce, do the whole nine yards," Nevin adds. "I think that's something in the future we want to do more of, but I think for this record we felt a little more comfortable just going; we just wanted to go in and play."
One of the highlights of the Beautiful World sessions was the opportunity to record John Lee Hooker's "Boom Boom," with Hooker himself providing guest vocals. Harrison had seen the band play the song, which has often been included in the group's live sets, at a concert and asked them to record it just to see how it would turn out.
"It was kind of at Jerry's request that we
tracked it, and I think all of us, we did it more to humor him than anything
because I don't think we ever felt that we wanted to put a cover song on
the record," Nevin says. "There's always that 
element, too, of
I guess you feel a little inhibited about covering a song like that because
John Lee is one of many of our heroes . John Lee actually happened to be
in the studio doing another project; he lives in the [San Francisco] Bay
area. And in talking with Jerry we kind of let him know we had no intention
of putting ["Boom Boom"] on the record. And [Jerry] said, `Well,
I'm thinking what if I can get John Lee to sing on the song?' So we kind
of told Jerry if you can get John Lee to come in and sing on the song, it's
on the record . I guess [Hooker] listened to it, liked the version, and
agreed to come in and kind of blew our minds. And that kind of made the
song something special, more of a tribute to him. Hopefully it comes across
that way -- and less us covering his song."
Beautiful World
in many ways is a sonic continuation of Strategem. As on the earlier
CD, Beautiful World finds Big Head Todd pursuing a bit rougher and
rockier sound than on Sister Sweetly. Especially on hard-hitting
tracks like "Resignation Superman" (the first single), "Helpless,"
and "Caroline," the band captures much of the grit of their live
show, which for the current tour features a healthy dose of the material
from Beautiful World. Yet the CD isn't all rock-and-roll. Obviously,
"Boom Boom" is blues, and "Can't Slow Down" and "These
Days Without You" are straight soul music. Nevin says that that diversity
marks the growth of the band. "Initially, I think we were a lot more
blues-soul, folky based, but I think our goal was always to become a rock-and-roll
band," he says. "Now ironically, with this record, I think we
cover the spectrum."